Chapter 3 Proceedings before the Court

• Author: International Criminal Court
• Pages: 8-30

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Regulations of the Court

Chapter 3

Proceedings before the Court

Section 1 Provisions relating to all stages of the proceedings

Subsection 1 General provisions

Regulation 19 bis3

Judici al re cess

1. The Presidency, in cons ultation wit h the judges, shall e stablish per iods of judicial

recess and issue g uidelines in relation ther eto.

2. Unless otherw ise determined by a Cha mber, during the judicial r ecess hearings shall

be limited to u rgent issues and time lim its shall not be suspended.

Regulation 204

Public hearings

1. Al l hearings sh all be held in publ ic, unless other wise provided in the Statute, Ru les,

these Regul ations or ordered by the Chamber.

2. When a Chamb er orders that certain hea rings be held in closed or pr ivate session, the

Chamber sha ll make public the reasons for such a n order.

3. A Chamber may order the d isclosure of all or par t of the record of closed proceedings

when the reasons for order ing its non-disclosure no longer ex ist.

Regulation 21

Broadcasting, release of t ranscripts and recordings

1. The publicit y of hearings m ay extend beyond the cou rtroom and m ay be through

broadcasting by t he Registry or release of t ranscripts or recording s, unless otherwise

ordered by the Cham ber.

2. In order to protect sens itive infor mation, broadcast s of audio- and video -recordings

of all heari ngs shall, unless ot herwise ordered by the Ch amber, be delayed by at least

30 minute s.

3. Witnesses and pa rticipants shal l be informed that the public hea rings of the Cham ber

are broadcast in acco rdance with th is regulation. Any object ion raised shall be ruled

on by the Chamber i n accordance with sub-regul ations 4 and 5.

4. Any objection to the release of t ranscr ipts or recording s, or requests that cer tain

testimony be excluded f rom broadcast, shall be made as soon as p ossible and, in a ny

event, no later than at the com mencement of the session at which t he witness or

participa nt is to appear.

5. T he Chamber may decide to prohibit the broadcast ing of any hearing of an object ion

until that objec tion has been ruled on.

3 Adopted 14 November 20 07, entered into force 18 Decem ber 2007.

4 Amended 6 Decem ber 2016, entered into for ce 6 December 2016 (sub-reg ulation 2 amen ded).

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Regulations of the Court

6. The Chamber may order the te rmination of the broadcast of a hea ring at any time.

7. All documenta ry evidence a nd other evidence i ntroduced by a par ticipant dur ing

a public hearing sh all be avai lable for broadcast, un less otherw ise ordered by the

Chamber.

8. At the request of a participant or t he Registr y, or proprio motu, and when possible

within t he time set out in s ub-regulation 2 , the Chamber m ay, in the interests of

justice, order that any i nformation l ikely to present a risk to the secur ity or safet y of

victim s, witnesses o r other persons, or l ikely to be prejudic ial to national s ecurit y

interests, shal l not be published in a ny broadcast, audio- or v ideo-recording or

transcr ipt of a public hearing.

9. The audio- and v ideo-record of heari ngs shall be made av ailable to the pa rticipants

and the public in accorda nce with the proce dures set out in the Reg ulations o f the

Registr y, unless otherwise ordere d by the Chamber.

Regulation 22

Def‌inition of documents

The term “document” sha ll include any mot ion, application, reques t, response, reply,

observation , representation and a ny other submiss ion in a form capable of deli vering a

written reco rd to the Court.

Regulation 23

Content of doc uments

1. Unles s otherwise provided in t he Statute, Rules, thes e Regulations or ordered by the

Chamber, any doc ument f‌iled with the Court sh all, as far as practicable, st ate:

(a) The identity of t he person f‌iling the document;

(b) The sit uation or case num ber, the name of the perso n to whom article 55,

paragraph 2, or ar ticle 58 applies, t he accused, convic ted or acquitted per son,

the name of counsel o r representative, if a ny, and the Chamber to wh ich the

matter has been as signed;

(c) A brief summa ry of the reason for f‌iling the doc ument which is not a response

or reply and the relief soug ht, if any;

(d) Al l relevant legal a nd factual i ssues, includi ng details of t he article s, rules,

regulation s or other applicable law relied upon.

2. All standard form s and templates for use dur ing the proceed ings before the Cou rt

shall be approved by t he Presidency. The Presidency may refer any mat ter relating to

the standard for ms and templates to the Adv isory Com mittee on Lega l Texts for its

consideration.

3. Subject to any order of the Chamber, a par ticipant shal l f‌ile, with each doc ument,

copies of any authorities r elied upon or, if appropriate, inter net lin ks. Partic ipants

are not requir ed to f‌ile copies of decision s or orders of the Cour t. Authorities sha ll

be provided in a n authorised version together with a t ranslation in at least one of the

working lang uages of the Court if the or iginal is not in one of those la nguages.